chemo vs. cancer
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Hi,
Thanks for info.
I think your mom will do fine.
If she develops pain after the WBC cell shots(Neupogen),just take a couple
Ibuprofen or Aleve or Tylenol if doctor ok with it.(It also comes with a long acting formulation too called Neulasta,so save your mom a few trips to the doctor’s office if the doctor and your insurance company approves its use.)Since the CC had metastasized to the pelvis,systemic chemo like Gem/cis is the first-line treatment choice;For some reasons, Gemzar/Xeloda does not always work as well for intrahepatic CC as for ductal CC;but it was a logical choice for CC with gallbladder involvement. If she is doing EGD,she can ask the doctor whether she can have the colonoscopy done at the same time.In this way she can have both done at the same time and only drink the stuff and NPO once and best of all,it will provide your mom the current condition of both upper and lower GI information.
God bless.Thank you PCL1029, and thank you for asking the questions, I don’t even know what to tell someone. I appreciate the assistance.
My mom has intrahepatic, her original tumor was on her gallbladder and attached to her liver. They took out her gallbladder and a third of her liver in November. In January she starte Gemzar and xeloda and had 3 rounds and then they did 30 rounds of radiation. After radiation they did one more round of chemo. Then they found two new spots. One on her liver and one on her pelvis. In June they started the gemzar/cisplatin. She goes in on Tuesday gets hooked up for a few hours and then leaves with a pump that continues to pump chemo into her for two days. The following week she goes T,W,Th, and F for her white blood cell shots (she doesn’t want to give them to herself). Then she starts the process over. She has had about 5 sessions. We are in Los Angeles and she goes to Kaiser. (I know, not the best choice), but we always go to USC NOrris for her second opinions and to make sure Kaiser is doing what they are suppose to. She has one more year until she can receive medicare and be able to go wherever she likes.
She is just use to doing so much that she has a tough time dealing with just resting. At least today I stopped by to visit and she was eating (she even gained some weight) and then we just sat in bed, she seemed to be doing better than she sounded last night. The doctors should be doing another scan very shortly. They want to do another procedure, sticking a tube down my moms throat to see if anything is bleeding inside her, since she still feels very weak. She just wants to feel a little bit better before she does that. She kind of tells the doctors what to do…which seems like something you need to do with this disease. This is why I rely on this website so much.
Hi,Mn,
Is it intrahepatic or ductal CC?
where the tumor is/are located?
did it metastasized ?
How many courses or cycles of chemo your mom had so far?
and what city are you living in?
63 years is very young and being an Itailan is a very good thing if she is very stubborn and insisting on having chemo like your said.
Determination to fight to the end or accepting reality and finding ways to get better is a very postive attitude and can be of great benefit in fighting CC.Gemzar/cis is tougher than Gemzar/Xeloda but your mom’s fighting spirit will trump over that little increase of uncomfortable side effects. If she takes meds for preventing nausea and vomiting and take things easy,relaxing and doing thing when she feels able to do,if so,let she do it. Stage 3 or 4 does not matter as far as I am concern.the most important thing is the courage to accept reality and deal with it like your mom.
God bless.Thanks…I never even considered doing a search here. It was very helpful. She has a pretty good attitude and gets really mad at the doctor when she can’t get her chemo. There has been a couple of times she was unable to receive it because her blood count was down. She also got upset with the doctor because they want to lower her dosage…she wants the maximum amount…she wants to beat this.
And thank you PCL1029…I forget about them sometimes. They are my daughters other grandparents that I do not have a lot of contact with, but they have been very supportive and helped out my mom a lot, especially with the original diagnosis. But I will give you my moms background anyway. My 63 your old mother is currently on Gemzar and Cisplaitin (I think there might be something else in the mix, but I’m not sure) She was first on Gemzar and Xeloda, but that didn’t work as two spots returned. She was stage 3, but since it returned after her surgery she is now Stage 4. Her last tumor marker was down to 10,000 from 11,000.
Again, thank you both for the reminders that the information is her. I appreciate it.
MN, if you use our search engine at the top of the page and type in something like chemo side effects, many posts will appear on the subject. Knowledge is really the best way to fight CC and there is a ton of knowledge in many of our past posts. We just don’t know if her reactions are from the chemo or the CC. No way of knowing without Scans and LABS. Please tell Mom to not think about the Gall Bladder ordeal as what is past is past and she needs to reserve her engery for the present. Honestly, attitude plays such a big part in CC. Try to do what ever you can to get her in an up attitude. It is also best for her if those around her display that same up attitude. Believe me, I know stubborn Italian and we have a big job convincing them that they are not doing good for their own cause. Good luck and I hope you can turn things around at least mentally.
Hi,
I was on Gemzar for 14 months and had little side effects and went to work as usual at my work place;in addition,I did yard work,mowed the lawn and the like as required by an unwritten code for married man that taking out the garbage every Friday was a “must do thing” or died.I also enjoyed going to movies with my kids for some family bonding time.(ie;when we all saw the movie “UP” ,when the wife is dying;the old man’s courage and determination to find the paradise that both of him and his wife had dreamed about for their honeymoon;I could not help my tears coming out.those are the moments a family can share and will remember forever.)Different chemo presents different side effects for the patient.I will need more info. on that to help my research on this subject for you.
The messages you posted here in the past indicated some of your family members are doctor and nurse.
They can explain all the questions you asks in a better way that most of us can;
Have you try to talk to them first?
Depends on the stage of cancer and the risk factors like age, current health of the patient and underlining disease state and the progression of the cancer.
Your family member who are in the medical field and close to your mom should have a much better picture about your mom’s condition than us far away.
But if you have a specific concern after talking to your medical family and don’t
quite sure what that mean,I can try to help you out on that.
God bless.I have to say I spent my Saturday evening catching up on posts here…I have been away getting ready for a new school year. While catching up on posts I spent a good time of it crying. I am very sorry to Christine4 and Sunshine for the passing their mother and sister. You guys are in my thoughts.
I am also trying to understand the difference between the cancer and the chemo. My mom has been very weak lately. I keep trying to put it on the chemo…chemo destroys are body before it can make things better. So this is for all those amazing people who have gone through the chemo, what were your side effects and how did they affect your day to day life?
My mom, stubborn italian woman, wants to do things all on her own. She knows that the Sunday following her treatment she is miserable. She thinks she will be okay on Tuesdays -Friday to take herself for her shots. I finally had to butt in and say, “NO…I will take you. You would be there for us, let us be there for you!!!” But she is at the point she no longer fights it, she can’t walk. We need to get her a wheel chair. This morning she was in tears because her back hurts so bad and her legs are swollen. Her hernia is bothering her, but the doctors won;t do anything about that until they get everything else under control. She didn;t like wearing the girdle they gave her. They warned her that if she didn’t wear it, it would get bigger…but again, she is the stubborn italian woman.
We take what good news we can get. Her tumor markers went down 1,000…however, they are still really high. However, staying the same or going down is a step in the right direction.
However, the doctor did lower her chemo dosage because it is killing to many red blood cells. She is at a 4 and somehow needs to be at 14. So far, she has gone through 3 blood transfusions (2 units each) and 1 platlette transfusion.
I know chemo takes a lot out of a person, but I also know many people who have worked through their chemo. Is this normal? Or is this the cancer getting the best of her? Any insight would be helpful. I hate seeing my mom like this. Before she went to have her gallbladder removed she was doing everything. I even said to her I can’t wait to hit my 60’s…I guess you get a second wind when you don’t have to take care of teenagers anymore. But this has all changed since she was diagnosed last October. She keeps kicking herself for fighting for the doctors to take out her gallbladder.
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